Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Vol 13, Issue 2 198-202, Copyright © 1994 by American College of Nutrition

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Drinking water as an iron carrier to control anemia in preschool children in a day-care center

J. E. Dutra-de-Oliveira, J. B. Ferreira, V. P. Vasconcellos and J. S. Marchini
Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Sao Paulo, Ribeirao Preto, Brazil.

OBJECTIVE: Several foods have been used as iron (Fe) carriers to fight widespread global Fe deficiency and anemia. This paper describes the longitudinal effect of Fe-fortified drinking water given to a group of Brazilian preschool children. DESIGN: The experimental design included 31 preschool children who attended a day-care institution. Hemoglobin and serum ferritin were the blood parameters used to check the Fe status. Fe++ sulfate (20 mg Fe/L) was added daily to their drinking water container and measurements were obtained before the addition, 4 and 8 months later. RESULTS: The number of Fe-deficient children decreased drastically after they started drinking the Fe-enriched water. Mean hemoglobin values increased from 10.6 to 13.7 g/dL and serum ferritin from 13.7 to 25.6 micrograms/L. There were no problems related to the salt addition or to the children drinking the Fe-enriched water. CONCLUSION: Fe-enriched drinking water was shown to be a practical alternative to supply Fe to children attending a day-care institution.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. A. Beinner, J. A. Lamounier, and C. Tomaz Effect of Iron-Fortified Drinking Water of Daycare Facilities on the Hemoglobin Status of Young Children J. Am. Coll. Nutr., April 1, 2005; 24(2): 107 - 114. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]